\' E R S E S 



VERSES 



Ethel Mendenhall Dixon 
Mary Beltzhooner Jenkins 
Helene Buhlert Magee 



Published by three members of the class of 1 903 

for the benefit of the Wellesley College 

Restoration and Endowment Fund 



BOSTON, MASS. 
MCMXIV 



^^^% 
^""t^ 






TABLE OF CONTENTS 

Page 

The Quest h.b.m. . . . 3 

Written for the Tree Day Pageant 
the Romaunt of the Rose 

A Song of Battle . . . m. b. j. . . . 5 

An Old Man's Song . .h.b.m. . . . 6 

Second FmDLE . . . . m. b. j. . . . 7 

Song h.b.m. . . . 8 

Venezuelan Serenade . . e. m.d. . . . 9 

Except m. b. j. . . .11 

Love h.b.m. . . .12 

Companionship . . . .h.b.m. . . .13 
I Saw You Pass By in the 

Street . . . .h.b.m. . . .14 

Translations . . . . m. b. j. . . .15 

The Leaf 

Written at the Base of a Crucifix 

To Anne Elizabeth Darby e.m.d. . . .16 

Song h.b.m. . . .17 

Flight OF Sea-Gull . .e.m.d. . . .18 

To THE BlTl'ER-RoOI 

Mountains . . .h.b.m. . . .19 

Friendship e.m.d. . . .20 

SnOW-WhITE . . . . M.B.J. . . .21 



VERSES 



THE QUEST 

There's a Dreamer abroad in the day's young 
dawning, 

Slow-musing, he wanders wide ; 
The world calls cheerly, and life's in its morning, 

A god is the Dreamer's guide. 
The broad fields are green, and the gardens fair. 

The Dreamer smiles as he goes ; 
And ever, above and about him , the air 

Is sweet with the breath of the Rose. 

There's a Lover a-speed where the grasses are 
growing, 

His heart will not let him bide ; 
He hastens afar where the pale buds are blowing, 

A god is the Lover's guide. 
Here flit dancers with silvery feet, — and there 

Lurk the deep-laid snares of his foes ; 
But no toil is too strong for the Lover to bear, 

His quest is the heart of the Rose. 

There's a Spirit a-seek in the world's young 
dawning ; 
Eager for things untried, 

[3] 



VERSES 



It dreams and loves through the long June morning, 

And the god who is its guide 
Points still to the faint blue distance, where, 

Half hidden, the flower glows ; 
But no way is too rough for the Spirit to dare, 

Its life is the quest of the Rose. 

ENVOI 

Ye seekers, above you, beyond you, it blows. 
By the side of your far, toilful pathway it grows ; 

Be true to the quest ; the God w^ho guides knows. 
And Beauty lies hid in the heart of the Rose. 

H. B. M. 



[4] 



VERSES 



A SONG OF BATIXE 

Sing me a song of battle, 

A glory-song of war — 
A song of the man in the thick of the fray, 
Who needs must battle his stumbling way 
Through the wild, dark night, through the bloody 
day, 

Where the foe and the fighting are. 

Sing me the joy of battle, 

A song of victory-death— 
A song of the man of the stedfast eye, 
Who has come to the end with sword still high, 
The man who has battled his right to die; 

Who has won to the final breath. 

Sing me the peace of battle, 

A song of battle-cease— 
A song of the man whose work is done, 
Who lies in a rest right royally won. 
Where the wind blows calm, where God's good 
sun 

Smiles on the battle- peace. 



[5] 



VERSES 



AN OLD MAN'S SONG 

All day I played, and grew with the flowers, 

(Ireland's hedges are white in May!) 
Laughed with the sunlight, cried with the 
showers, 
Loud sang my merry heart, 
** Life is play! " 

I wedded a maid when the shamrock was green, 

(Blue were her eyes as the June sky above !) 
I was a king and she was a queen. 
Low whispered heart on heart 
Life is love ! ' ' 

I knelt by the side of her empty bed, 

(Ireland was gray in the autumn rain.) 
God and the world far away with my dead, — 
Sure," said my breaking heart, 
*'Life is pain." 

All day I sit by the peat-fire's glow; 

(Frosty and raw is Ireland's breath.) 
Little reck I of the damp or the blow , 
Peace keeps my tired heart, 
''Life is death." 

H. B. M. 

[6] 



SECOND FIDDLE 

Above them all, I hear you, high and sweet, 
Leading a melody that is replete 
With gladness, or with pity, or with plea, 
Sung as you will to play it: — But for me 
Enough to string your second, as is meet. 

Enough for me to measure out my beat, 
A background to the theme in which you cheat 
The music masters of their minstrelsy. 
I am content. 

Enough for me to follow where your feet 
Shall choose — enough, to take the farthest seat 
From your enthronement, so I may but see 
You first in all the land, dear, so you be 
Honored and loved ; your happiness complete, 
I am content. 

M. B. J. 



[7] 



VERSES 



SONG 

My Love hath stepped across the purple hills 
To seek a fitter love than mine ; ah me ! 

How heavy hangs the darkling cloud that fills 
This vale I once did think so fair to see ! 

My Love hath found, across the purple hills, 
The mighty heart she long hath loved and 
sought. 
And lo ! the darkling cloud no longer fills 

My vale, so sweet a wonder hath been 
wrought ! 

My heart sped out across the purple hills, 

And there my dear Love filled it, still and 
deep. 

With her own joy, since when such rapture fills 
My vale, I know not if I wake, or sleep! 



[8] 



VERSES 



VENEZUELAN SERENADE 

While the southern cross burns bright 

*er La Guayra's purple dome, 
To the soul of my delight 
Through the fragrant night I come. 

1 have ridden fast and far 
In the longing of my quest, 
And pressed my steed 

To his utmost speed 
In the anguish of unrest. 

By the jungles, dense and drear. 

By the caiion's lurking shade, 

I have traversed, void of fear. 

The gloom of the forest glade ; 

Yet the breathless winds blow faint 

In the terror of my pain. 

And the bright stars pale 

And the perfumes fail 

In the fear of thy disdain. 

But ah! if all lonely-sad 

In the darkness at thy feet. 

My heart should be rendered glad 

[9] 



VERSES 

By the promise I entreat, 

When the red morn gleams on high 

And the faint stars dip the sea, 

I shall see above 

The star of love 

And dawn of new life for me. 



[lo] 



VERSES 



EXCEPT 



Except the robin lifeless lie, 

A victim in the eagle's claw, 

The mountain-king himself must die. 

For this is Nature's law. 

Except the soldier meet his death 
Upon the bloody battle-plain. 
His country dies ; his ebbing breath 
Bids his land live again. 

Except a corn of wheat shall fall 
Into the ground, and waste, and die, 
It is alone; dying, it brings 
Fruit to eternity. 



["] 



VERSES 



LOVE 

Once my heart walked in gray places, 
Orderly, sedate, and slow. 

Now it wing's in heavenly spaces. 
Cleaves the crimson sunset glow. 

Once I gazed across the Unknown, 
Seeking God with hungry eyes ; 

Now there lies upon my hearthstone, 
All the light of Paradise. 

H. B. M. 



[i»] 



VERSES 



COMPANIONSHIP 



All through the day I loved you so, dear heart, 
That, though your task and mine lay far apart, 
I kept you with me. Sweet to see you there. 
And touch you, softly, on your wondrous hair, 
And clasp your fingers in my empty hand. 

So, when to-night at last I saw you stand 
Within the doorway, gladness in your eyes, 
I looked up with no shadow of surprise 
To greet you, not as one come from away. 
But as the dear, known comrade of the day. 



[13] 



VERSES 



I SAW YOU PASS BY IN THE STREET 

I saw you pass by in the street, 

Warm clothes on your body, 

Warm shoes on your feet ; 
I saw you pass by in the street. 

Warm coat that was bought with my gold, — 
How men's eyes would scorn you. 
If I had but told 

Your warm coat was bought with my gold ! 

I know that a wrong is a wrong ; 

Though the hungry be fainting, 

And feasters grow strong, 
I know that a wrong is a wrong. 

So I let you pass by in the street. 

In a clear day that 's coming 

God means we shall meet. 
So I let you pass by in the street. 

H. B. M. 



[H] 



VERSES 



TRANSLATIONS 
THE LEAF 

From the French of Arnault 

Broken off from the bough, 
Poor withered leaf, thou. 
Whither goest ? " ' 

" 'Ah, I may not say; 
For the tempest has blown. 
And the oak overthrown. 
Alone my support and my stay. 
By its wavering unkind 
The light breeze or the wind 
Blows me ever from valley to hill ; 
I have wandered again 
From the wood to the plain, 
And I go where the wind leads me still 
Without fear, — without will, — 
Where everything goes ; 
Where the laurel leaf blows. 
And the leaf of the rose.' " 

WRITTEN AT THE BASE OF A CRUCIFIX 

From the French of Victor Hugo 

Ye who weep, come to Him , He weeps with thee ; 
Ye who suffer, come to Him, He heals all pains; 
Ye who tremble, come to Him, Hesmiles on thee; 
Ye who pass, come to this God, He remains." 



VERSES 



TO ANNE ELIZABETH DARBY 

Black shade of walnut carving where the stair 
Winds to the landing; central, full in view, 
In satin shimmer of the palest blue. 
Pauses a maiden ; rich, warm brown her hair. 
And deeply brown her luminous, grave eyes; 
Pink in her cheeks like that the day-break glow 
Casts in reflection on a field of snow ; 
Her red lips parted in a faint surprise 
To find herself so gazed upon ; one hand 
Rests lightly on the banister ; her gown 
Clings to the foot poised for the next step down, 
Though undecided still she seems to stand. 
All dignity and grace. Ah ! paint who can 
As fair a picture as the Lady Anne. 



[i6] 



VERSES 



SONG 

It lies all fair about me, 

The color of the spring ; 
It flashes clear above me 

In the scarlet of a wing. 
It flames in the cowslips' yellow, 

It pales in the wind-flower's flush ; 
Burns keen in the tulip- borders. 

Fades brown in the coat of the thrush. 

Mone amid the young world's joy 
My young sorrow goeth. 

Bark against the apple-blows 
My black garment showeih. 

It spreads all gay about me, 

The Summer's show of flowers. 
They have more lovely colors 

Than an August day hath hours ; 
Proud marigolds in orang;e, 

Tall larkspur in burning blues ; 
Poppies and wall-flowers and pansies, — 

Which flower, — which flower to choose! 

Mone amid the bright world's joy 
My young sorrow goeth. 

Dark among the garden-rows 
My black garment showeth. 

H. B. M. 

[17] 



VERSES 



FLIGHT OF A SEA-GULL 

Before the gloom of heavy mist low-lying, 
Which sweeps, wind-driven, from the open sea, 
On pinions wide, the turbid waves defying. 
Skims a white sea-gull ; joying to be free 
He soars exultant over piling surges 
To scan their hollow in a dizzy sweep, 
And foam -flecked from the angry trough emerges. 
Bending his bold flight shoreward. To the deep 
He drops unfearing ; on the surface lightly 
An instant rocks, e'er with instinctive aim 
Hew heels on w ings that cleave the dark fog brightly , 
And darts into the distance. 

Whence he came 
None knows, nor whither bound, nor what mad 

quest 
Lures his wild spirit o'er the sea's unrest. 

E. M. D. 



[i8] 



S E S 



TO THE BIITER-ROOT MOUNTAINS 

No words of mine can touch you, — ye who lift 

Proud heads above the Summer clouds, and lie 

Serene and pure and far against the sky. 

Across your noonday purple gleams the drift 

Of never melting snows ; thin rainclouds sift 

Gray veils across your foreheads. Silent, high, 

Peak beyond peak, you take with majesty 

Dawn as a glory, sunset as a gift 

Of riotous color, and the thunder's roar 

Send strongly back to heaven, with peal on peal 

Of echoed exultation. Could my feet 

But cross your shining thresholds, should I meet, 

Standing within eternity's wide door, 

The God whose age-long travail you reveal ? 

H. B. M. 



19 



VERSES 



FRIENDSHIP 



Think not these silent years that lie between 
Our friendship and to-day, have changed the love 
And trust I gave thee ; rather let them prove 
My truth still thine, though thou be far, unseen. 
Dear, as the sunlight on the mountain-tips 
After the shadow, sifts each crevice bright, 
And draws each tree and boulder to the light 
More noticeably for its brief eclipse ; 
So shall my ceaseless love more clearly burn 
Within the sunshine of thy presence, made 
But dearer for this transitory shade. 
Which shows me how to miss thee. 
This I learn: 
Sweeter a friendship that remains unmoved 
By time and distance, than a love unproved. 



[20] 



VERSES 



SNOW WHITE 

{^n Interpretation of Grieg' s ^^ March of the Dwarfs^*) 

One by one, 

Stealing through the forest lone, 

Step by step, 

Slowly through the woods they creep, 

Timid, slow. 

Peering round the trees, they ,8:0. 
Here and there a dwarfish brother 
Stops to join him with another. 
Now they march by twos and threes. 
Tipping cautious 'neath the trees ; 
Now they are an army strong. 
Pushing, tumbling along. 
Not a word does each to each 
Venture in his woodland speech ; 
But a weird and piercing yell 
Here does impish woe foretell. 
Now a laugh, uncouth and shrill, 
Echoes far from hill to hill. 
Elfin comrades join in, 
Making, doubling the din. 
Laughing loud, with whoop and shriek, 

[21] 



VERSES 



Piping voices, clear or weak. 
Something strange the sound denotes 
That comes so strangely from their throats. 
Onward, onward, tumbling still 
Struggling, jostling, up the hill. 
Quietly, tipping once again. 
They the topmost mount attain. 
Then, creeping, crouching, hand in hand. 
In a silent circle stand. 

For here she sleeps, their sister, fair Snow- White, — 
Sleeps where they placed her, and, through day and 

night. 
From sun to moon she sleeps, — nor sees the light. 

Here on the hilly slope, the mossy grass. 
She sleeps forever, 'neath the crystal glass, 
Snow-White, their sister fair, Alas, alas ! 

The dumb, wild rabbits scamper to and fro ; 
They softly come, and sadly peer, and low 
Swayed over her, the willow weeps its woe. 

With head in hand and impish garments queer. 
The little sentinel that crouches near 
Silently watches their Snow-white so dear. 

Snow-white the doves that hover over-head. 
Snow-white she lies. Snow-white her little bed, 
Snow-white the tiny pillow 'neath her head. 



VERSE 



Snow-white she sleeps. Snow-white her lovely 

brow, 
Snow-white her cheek, pure as the purest snow. 
Snow-white the little hands clasped close below. 

She sleeps, nor dreams of how they round her stand 
Wondering and dumbly silent, hand in hand. 
Longing to call her back from fairy-land. 

The sister who had shared their woodland wild. 
Since first they found her — she, the human child. 
Who tempered their elf-life with presence mild. 

Snow- White, their sister, in the little wood. 
Whose human heart each elf-heart understood 
Was more than all their elfin brother- hood. 

But no ! 

Elfs they are, and elfs must go 
Back to their old haunts, and so 
Slowly creeping, down they go. 
The forest beckons them , and still 
Silent, tumbling down the hill. 
Rolling, jostling, in their fall. 
Answering the wild- wood call. 
Back they go. 

Rushing, rushing, onward still 
Laughing wild, and shrieking shrill. 
Weirdly on, from hill to hill 

[-3] 



VERSES 

Creeps the band. 
Now they tumble, band in hand. 
Now they separate — and so 
Silent through the woods they go. 
Now again a weird cry lone, 
Echoes once — and they are — gone! 

M. B. J. 



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